Phonograph



Get, 6, 1936 J. E. RENHOLDT PHONOGRAPH Filed March 8. 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet l v Oct. 6, 1936.. J RENHOLDT 2,056,620

PHONOGRAPH Filed March 8, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 EJ ECTOR HEAD MOVEMENT l I I l 1 2 3 4- 5 EJECTOR LEVER MOVEMENT INVENTOR Tohn ZZfienfioZdf ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 6, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PHONOGRAPH Application March 8, 1935, Serial No. 9,994

11 Claims.

This invention relates to phonographs of the commercial type and more particularly to improvements in the record-cylinder ejecting and switch-operating mechanisms therefor.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide more efiicient mechanism for removing a record-cylinder from its support. Another object is to provide simple and practical switchactuating mechanism associated with the record-cylinder ejecting mechanism.

Other objects are in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts as will be exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the possible embodiments of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a transcribing phonograph embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan of a portion of the base-plate of the machine showing the ejector and switching mechanisms under one set of conditions;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the same parts differently conditioned;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to Figs. 3 and 4 but showing the ejector mechanism as in Fig. 3 and the switch mechanism as in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a partial cross-section on line 6--B of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a graphic illustration of the functional relationship of certain elements of the ejector mechanism.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the draw- I ings.

In the operation of transcribing phonographs of the cylinder type, it has been found that at the end of a transcription the operator mechanically actuates the record-ejector to loosen the cylinder from the mandrel, even though the cylinder may not be immediately completely removed therefrom. In an earlier application a construction was shown whereby advantage was taken of this mechanical action to cause operation of the motor circuit switch to its open position, thus insuring non-operation of the motor for so long as the ejector stood in its out or protracted position. Thus, ordinarily the motor would be idle whenever the mandrel did not support a record-cylinder. Furthermore, means were provided for automatically closing the motor switch whenever a record-cylinder was brought into operative relation with the mandrel; or whenever the record-ejector Was returned to its retracted position by any other act of the operator. These and other novel features are incorporated in the structure now to be described.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the present phonograph comprises a base-plate ID, a pair of standards H, and a housing l2. The housing I2 provides bearing support for a mandrel shaft l3 provided at one end with a mandrel I4 which is adapted. to support and frictionally engage a record-cylinder l5. The mandrel shaft also supports a loose pulley it which may be brought into driving connection with the said shaft by means of a clutch device I! manually controlled in a known manner. The pulley I6 is connected by means of a belt I8 with an electric motor I9, suspended in a known manner from the underside of the baseplate I 0.

A sound-box carriage 20 is supported for longitudinal movement relatively to the recordsupport It upon a pair of guide rods 2| and 22 extending between the standards I I. The carriage is propelled along the guide rods by means of a feed-screw 23 driven from the mandrel shaft l3 through any suitable train of gears (not shown) disposed within the housing. A feed-nut 24 mounted on the carriage cooperates with the feed-screw.

The ejector device for freeing the cylinder from the mandrel is substantially like that shown in United States Patent No. 1,687,375, and comprises a plunger 25 supported in the housing I 2 to move longitudinally of the machine. The operating end of the plunger 25 has a head 26 so shaped as to pass by the mandrel flange 21 but to engage the inner end of the record-cylinder I 5 when the plunger is protracted from its inner or unoperated position. The other end of the plunger is fastened to the upstanding arm 26 forming part of a longitudinally disposed link 29 which is supported beneath the base I!) and terminates at a point adjacent the outer end of the mandrel.

Here the link is pivotally connected at 30 to a lever 3|, fulcrumed at 32 upon a shouldered screw, positioned rearwardly of the righthand end of an arcuate slot 33, itself located near the right front corner of the base It). The free end of lever 3| carries a roller 34 mounted on a screw 35. An actuating lever 36 is pivoted near the rear of the base l0 upon a screw 31, and at its forward end is provided with an upwardly extending portion 38 forming a fingerpiece for operating the lever. This fingerpiece extends through the said arcuate slot 33 to the upper side of the base In. At a suitable point between the ends of lever 36 a stud 39 forms a pivotal mounting adjacent the apex 460i a triangular lever 4|, whose base 42 at one side of center has rolling contact with a roller 43 mounted upon a fixed stud 44, and at the other side of center has rolling contact with the aforesaid roller 34positioned at the end of lever'3l. The said lever 4| thus acts upon the roller '34 as a shiftable cam movable not only with respect to lever 3| but also relatively to actuating lever 36. A spring 43. having one end secured to lever 3| and the other end to cam lever 4| tends to hold the "ejector parts in the unoperated position shown in Fig. 3. It will be seen by a comparison of the positions of the parts in Figs. 3 and 4 that as the lever 36 moves from its unoperated position in Fig. 3 to its operated position in Fig. 4, the cam lever 4| rocking about the pivot 39 is caused tooscillate also about the fixed fulcrum point 43 which is made continuously to approach nearer and nearer the center of the base 42 of the cam lever. At the same time the point of contact of the roller 34 with the base of the cam lever is moved continuously farther and farther away from the center of the triangular base while the lever 3| is being swung in a counterclockwise direction (referring to Figs. 3 and 4) about its pivot 32.

The operation in general will be largely obvious for it is evident that asthe fingerpiece 38 is moved from left to right in slot 33 the ejector head will first be brought into contact with the inner end of the record-cylinder and thereafter will move the cylinder to the right, along the mandrel to the point where the cylinder may easily be removed by the fingers of the operator, this general aspect of the operation being no different from that of the ejector disclosed in Patent No. 1,687,375. However, during the operation of the ejector by the present lever system, the force applied manually at the fingerpiece is more advantageously utilized. It is a well known fact that record-cylindershave, because of temperature variations, a tendency to become tightly set upon the mandrel, so that a relatively great initial force must be applied to start the removal of the cylinder from the mandrel. Under such conditions a fixed leverage system for applying force to load is disadvantageous because there is relatively little resistance offered by the record to the force applied at the fingerpiece, after the record starts to move. Consequently the ejector is thrown violently through the remainder of its stroke at an ever-increasing rate of speed. Meanwhile the record-cylinder gains such a high velocity of movement that it is sometimes diflicult to prevent its being thrown clear off the mandrel and thus broken, or at least considerably damaged.

This disadvantage is largely overcome .in the use of an ejector lever system made in accordance with the principles of the present invention, and other positive advantages are gained, as for example, a substantial reduction in the throw of the fingerpiece relative to the throw of the ejector head. Fig. 7 shows the curve of ejector operation, the abscissa representing uniform increments of distance covered by the fingerpiece and the ordinates the corresponding distances through which the ejector head moves. It will be seen that the increments of distance gained by the ejector head are not uniform but increase progressively from beginning to end of the throw. From these facts may be postulated an ever-increasing tendency to offset the above mentioned tendency of the fingerpiece continuously to gain velocity, whereby the speed of recordejection' is held under control.

In the earlier application mentioned above, means was shown connecting the ejector-actuating mechanism with the phonograph motor switch for controlling the operation of the motor in response to; actuation of the ejector. In the present application is shown improved mechanism for this purpose and for permitting operation of the motor switch independently of the operation of the ejector when the latter stands in its 'in or unoperated position. The motor controlling switch 56, of known construction, is supported by a bracket having a downwardly depending arm 5| for supporting the switch and a horizontal base portion 52 which is secured to the underside of the base-plate H] by means of screws 53. The bracket hasalso a horizontal portion 54 offset downwardly from the portion 52 and connected therewith by means of a vertical portion 55. Rotatively mounted upon bracket member 54 by means of a stud 56 is an irregularly shaped lever 51, see Figs. 3 and 4, having at one end a laterally extending arm 58 and at the other end a downwardly extending finger 53. The switch 50 has a reciprocative plunger 63, secured by means of a cotter pin 6| to a toggle link, 62, adjacent an end of said link. Link 62 is pivotally mounted by means of a stud 63 upon the irregular lever 51, as will be understood by reference toFig. 3 or 4. The end of toggle link 62 is tapered to a' high point at 64, the tapering sides being adapted to contact a rollen 65 pinned on the underside of lever 5'1. The toggle link has a slot connection with cotter pin 6| and also with screw 63, so is permitted limited endwise movement relatively to lever 51. A spring 66 extending between a pin 5'! on lever 51 and a pin 68 on link 62 tends to hold one or the. other of the tapered surfaces at the end of the link in contact with the roller 65. Lateral displacement of link 62 is limited by a pair'of spaced abutments 69 and 10 which are formed upon and extend downwardly from bracket member 52. It will be clear from the description, thus far, that the switch plunger is snapped from its innor contact position to its outeropen position or vice versa whenever the lever 51 is rocked about its pivot 56.

Pivoted to the lever 57 by means of screw 'al substantially in alignment with the laterally extending arm. 58 and extending in the opposite direction from said arm is a finger 12 having an upward turned camming lug 13 at its outer end. This finger-is normally held in its aligned relation with arm. 58 by means of an abutment l4 extendingdownwardly from arm 58, and a spring 15 secured atone end to a pin 16 on fingerv l2 and at its other end to a pin 11 on lever 51. Thus the finger I2 is free to move against the reaction of spring 15 in a counter-clockwise direction, as seen in-Figs. 3 and 4, but is prevented from swinging in a clockwise direction by the abutment I4.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, there will be seen a finger lever 18 pivoted as at 19 to a bracket 80 depending from the underside of phonograph base It]. The lever passes through a slot in the base and at its lower end is secured to the downwardly extending finger 59 of lever by means of a pin Bl. Thus it will be seen that under certain conditions, referred to later, the lever 51 may be oscillated and. the phonograph switch operated in either direction by means of the finger lever 18.

In the usual operation of the phonograph it is intended, however, that the operation of the motor shall be controlled by the operation of the record-ejector. For this purpose a plate 85 is secured to the underside of ejector link 29 by means of screws 85. Depending from this plate is an angular camming member 86 adapted, under the set conditions illustrated in Fig. 3, which shows the ejector mechanism in its unoperated condition and the motor switch in contact closed position (contacts not shown), to engage a surface 87 on lever arm 58 while the ejector parts are being moved to the operated position shown in Fig. 4. This engagement swings the lever 51 to the position shown in Fig. 4 and changes the switch to open-circuit condition. Thus ejection of a record-cylinder breaks the phonograph motor circuit and puts the machine out of operation. The ejector parts are then held resiliently in operated position against the reaction of spring 55 until they are returned to unoperated position either by returning the actuating lever 36 by means of the fingerpiece 38 to its position at the left end of slot 33, or by fully seating a new record-cylinder upon the mandrel. The holding means for the ejector mechanism comprises a detent lever 88 pivoted upon link 29 and normally held in the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4 by means of a spring 89. A pin 90 projecting downwardly from the base H is engaged by the rounded end of this lever when the ejector is in operated position (Fig. 4). As the spring 89 prevents movement of the lever the ejector parts are held immovable against the action of spring 45.

A pin 9| extending down from the plate 85 is adapted to cooperate with the upturned lug 13 on finger 12, to swing lever 51 clockwise and return the switch to closed-contact condition when the ejector link 29 is returned to its unoperated position, as in Fig. 3; but before any movement may be imparted to lever 5'! the surface 92 at the extreme end of lever arm 58 must ride off of the cam member 85; for as long as cam member 85 underlies the surface 92 the switch mechanism cannot be operated. Thus the manual switch control I8 is rendered inoperative so long as the ejector stands in its out position.

However, when the parts are conditioned as in Fig. 3, that is, when the ejector is in, the motor circuit may be made and broken by operation of finger lever 78, since nothing interferes with free oscillation of lever 51. In Fig. 5 the ejector link is shown in unoperated position and the switch lever 51 in switch cut-off position.

With the parts as shown in Fig. 5 it is still possible to work the ejector, for though moving the ejector link to the right brings the pin 9| into engagement with lug 13, further movement of the ejector is not prevented, since the pin 9| swings the finger 12 away from the abutment 'M. The lug 13 then trips off of the pin 9| and, when the ejector has been fully operated, the parts occupy the positions shown in Fig. 4 with movement of lever 51 blocked by cam member 86.

It is then impossible to again start the motor by operation of the manual control lever l8.

It will be seen that there is provided a construction of an essentially practical nature in which the several objects of this invention are attained.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In a phonograph, in combination, a frame, a record mandrel mounted on the frame, a recordengaging plunger mounted on the frame, a link mounted on the frame and engaging the said plunger, an actuating lever pivoted to the frame, and means operatively connecting said actuating lever with said link comprising means for transmitting relatively great force to the link when the ejector stands at its in position and progressively to lessen the force transmitted to said link as the ejector moves toward its out position.

2. In a phonograph, in combination, a frame, a record mandrel mounted on the frame, a record-engaging plunger mounted on the frame, a link mounted on the frame and engaging the said plunger, an actuating lever pivoted to the frame, and means operatively connecting said actuating lever with said link comprising means for moving the plunger progressively through increasing increments of travel in response to uniform movement of said actuating lever.

3. In a phonograph, in combination, a frame, a record mandrel mounted on the frame, a record-engaging plunger mounted on the frame, a link mounted on the frame and engaging the said plunger, an actuating lever pivoted to the frame, and means operatively connecting said actuating lever with said link comprising means for moving the plunger at a continuously retarded velocity as the actuating lever is moved at a uniform rate.

4. In a phonograph, in combination, a frame, a recornd mandrel mounted on the frame, a record-engaging plunger mounted on the frame, a link mounted on the frame and engaging the said plunger, an actuating lever pivoted to the frame, and means operatively connecting said actuating lever with said link comprising a lever pivotally connected with said link and camming means interposed between said link-connected lever and said actuating lever.

5. In a phonograph, in combination, a frame, a record mandrel mounted on the frame, a record-engaging plunger mounted on the frame, a link mounted on the frame and engaging the said plunger, an actuating lever pivoted to the frame, and means operatively connecting said actuating lever with said link comprising a lever pivotally connected with said link and a shiftable rocker arm mounted on said actuating lever and having a camming surface in movable engagement with said link-connected lever and with a fixed abutment on said frame.

6. In a phonograph, in combination, a recordsupport, a motor for driving said support, a circui't including said motor and a source of electrical energy, a switch in said circuit, an actuator for said switch, means for releasing a record from said record-support, means associated with said record-releasing means for operating said actuator to control the operation of said switch, and independent means for operating said actuator.

'7. In a phonograph, in combination, a recordsupport, a motor for driving said support, a circuit including said motor and a source of electrical energy, a switch in said circuit, an actuator for said switch, means for releasing a record from said record-support, means associated with said record-releasing means for operating said actuator to control the operation of said switch, independent means for operating said actuator, and means associated with said record-releasing means for locking said actuator in a predetermined position.

8. In a phonograph, in combination, a recordsupport, a motor for driving said support, a circuit including said motor and a source of electrical energy, a switch in said circuit, actuating means for said switch, a record-ejector having in and out positions relatively to said recordsupport, and means for locking said actuating means to prevent closing of said switch while said record-ejector stands in its out position.

9. In a phonograph, in combination, a mandrel for supporting a record-cylinder, driving means for said mandrel, a record-ejector movable to a certain position by a record-cylinder during the seating of said cylinder upon said mandrel, means for moving said record-ejector away from said certain position to release a cylinder from said mandrel, means responsive to movement of said record-ejector to and from said certain position for starting and stopping operation of said driving mechanism, and means acting independently of said record-ejector for starting and stopping operation of said driving mechanism.

10. In a phonograph, in combination, a mandrel for supporting a record-cylinder, driving means for said mandrel, a record-ejector movable to a certain position by a record-cylinder during the seating of said cylinder upon said mandrel, means for moving said record-ejector away from said certain position to release a cylinder from said mandrel, means responsive to movement of said record-ejector to and from said certain position for starting and stopping operation of said driving mechanism, means acting independently of said record-ejector for starting and stopping operation of said driving mechanism, and means for preventing operation of said independently acting means to start operation of said driving mechanism when said record-ejector has been moved to release a cylinder from said mandrel.

11. In a phonograph, in combination, a frame, a record mandrel mounted on the frame, a member mounted on the frame adapted to shift a record relatively to said mandrel, an actuating lever, and means operatively connecting said actuating lever with said record shifting member comprising means for moving the said member progressively through increasing increments of travel in response to uniform movement of said actuating lever.

' JOHN E. RENHOLDT. 

